Ahmadinejad flexes military muscle as news of secret Gates Iran memo ripples
In a secret three-page January memo, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates cautioned the White House that the nation to deal with the continuing growth of Iran鈥檚 nuclear program, reports the New York Times.
The Gates Iran memo has sparked efforts from the White House, Pentagon, and intelligence services to provide President Obama with potential military options in the event that diplomatic actions fail.
While an official familiar with the document called it a 鈥渨ake-up call,鈥� other White House officials insist that the Obama administration has been developing different options and strategies for the past 15 months.
Meanwhile, Iran has continued its confrontational stance towards the US, with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling on the US to destroy its nuclear arsenal and withdraw troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Jones: The US is ready
Speaking with The New York Times, which the existence of the memo, Mr. Obama鈥檚 security adviser, Gen. James Jones did not specifically address the memo, but denied that the US government is unprepared to deal with a nuclear Iran.
鈥淥n Iran, we are doing what we said we were going to do. The fact that we don鈥檛 announce publicly our entire strategy for the world to see doesn鈥檛 mean we don鈥檛 have a strategy that anticipates the full range of contingencies 鈥� we do,鈥� [said Gen. Jones].
But Obama's political opponents in Washington are seizing on report of the memo to cast doubt on the president's Iran strategy.
"I didn鈥檛 need a secret memo to know we ," Sen. John McCain (R) of Arizona told host Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday." "That鈥檚 pretty obvious."
Memo raises concerns
The Times of London reports that Mr. Gates raised concerns about what the US would do if Iran obtained all the necessary components to build a nuclear weapon but did not actually put together a nuclear missile. In this case, Iran would become a 鈥� 鈥� and keep its status as a signatory of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Iran, however, continues to insist that whatever the US strategy toward its nuclear program, it is only developing atomic technologies to generate electricity. Iran鈥檚 Press TV reports that the memo appeared while Washington officials wanted to create a broader base of support for new sanctions against Iran because of its uranium enrichment programs.
Ahmadinejad's own nuclear summit
At about a week after Obama鈥檚, Mr. Ahmadinejad called for future nuclear disarmament talks to be run by states that currently do not possess an atomic arsenal.
鈥淭he involvement of the government of America will prevent any new treaty from being fair,鈥� said Ahmadinejad in an article reported by the Washington Post.
He also criticized Obama for a recent statement saying that US policy does not rule out the use of nuclear weapons against Iran and North Korea.
Iran was not invited to participate in Obama鈥檚 nuclear summit.
On Sunday, Ahmadinejad went a step further, vowing to respond with 鈥渁ll [Iran鈥檚] military potential鈥� in the face of armed aggression, reports Al Jazeera.
The remarks came on Iran鈥檚 Army Day when the nation showcases its military technology. The Iranian president also added that the US must from Iraq and Afghanistan, where he says the presence of US forces has only 鈥渋ncreased insecurity in both countries.鈥�
